The Perfect Solider
by Jackie0114
Summary: She became the perfect solider at a cost. Now she must face the horrors of her past, but this time she is not alone. An unexpected ex-knight will help her face her demons and become the person he remembered from before.
1. Intro

Disclaimer: I own nothing, anything regarded to FFVIII belongs to Square

She walked down halls of Balamb full of confidence with her head held high. A beautiful statue brought to life in which was bestowed upon Gaia, a gift from Hyne himself some would say. Her composure held such elegance and grace like no other woman, yet had the skill and ferocity perfect for war like no other man. Yes, that was Balamb's pride and joy, Quistis Trepe. No one has yet claimed the title of the perfect soldier until she became the youngest Seed in all of Garden history. Even in the far reaches of Galbadia and Trabia no one had claimed that title. One must ask, what kind of self motivation and determination did she have in order to claim such a title of the perfect soldier? Was it simply to be the best? Competition with another? Recognition? Or was it because she was a perfectionist? These questions were always pondered among her peers. Even those who admired her held no true answer. Only she and few others knew of her true incentives to become the best.

She and those who do know know that the reason to her success, the reason why she fought so hard to become the best…..

They know never to utter her reasons to any living soul…

...No one needs to be reminded, not ever...


	2. Hyne's A Bitch

"Alright class, tomorrow we will be going over answers to any questions regarding the Seed exam. If you feel that you are fully prepared for the test there is no need to show up to class. However, if you have even the slightest bit of doubt, I strongly recommend coming to class tomorrow. Are there any questions?"

One of the students raised their hand in the air.

"Will there be any study sessions after class?" There was a big smile plastered on his face, one of the Trepies no doubt. How she could tell, or anyone for that matter, was quite obvious. No one is ever that happy to attend a study lesson unless a certain instructor was there.

Despite knowing that the person who raised his hand had aced every single exam, done every extra credit assignment, never fell below an A minus, smiled at him.

"Not today unfortunately" The Trepies once happy face turned into a sad face of disappointment.

"I am however, trying to get a big enough room available so that I we may have a study session available for all of my classes. I'm going to be posting up a sign in sheets, one for tutors and the other for extra credit for attending the study hall for those that need it."

The students face once again lit up again, happy that he will be able to see his beloved instructor at the study hall.

"Alright looks as though class is over, here is the sign in sheet for those who want to help their fellow classmates pass the exam, I will see you all tomorrow"

Quistis packed up her things and then headed to the door going straight to her dormitory to drop off her things. Almost two years have passed since the defeat of Ultimecia, since then, things have been the same from what was left off before she tried to stop Seifer and following him to Timber. She had her teaching license back in her hands, thanks to the Trepies who petitioned for her license to be reinstated. Sometimes it was good to have a fan club big enough to accomplish such a thing. She was back doing the thing she loved most. It was strange for the new cadets to see their teacher in the class room then hanging out in the cafeteria with her friends. Strange because it wasn't strange at all. If she was in a classroom she was the teacher and you were the student no questions asked. Outside of the classroom, she was just a regular Seed chatting with her friends, doing things a 20 year old should be doing.

The once proclaimed hero had changed over the years. No longer was she the stern ice queen who was rarely seen outside of the classroom. No longer was she the workaholic or the love struck instructor who had her eyes on a certain Seed. She had learned to balance out her life without one conflicting with the other. It also helped that everyone from her year had already graduated as well, so there was no need to worry about anyone that may capture the heart of the blue-eyed instructor.

Yes everything was going to plan. She reached her destination and entered her newly upgraded dorm. Her dorm resembled that of a small apartment a nice change to becoming an instructor. She opened the door and smiled as she dropped off her things on her white couch. Her living room consisted of one long couch and a loveseat both in which were white, a rectangle brown coffee table in the center, and a small television set. The living room was also connected to her marbled kitchen which had its own stove and refrigerator, another perk for being an instructor. She walked along her small hallway and entered her sanctuary. The bedroom was her favorite part of the apartment. A full queen sized bed covered in white and beige blankets along with the pillows against the wall that resided near her balcony, giving her a beautiful for sunsets. The side of her bed had a small dresser with a lamp, her alarm clock, and a picture of her and the rest of the orphanage gang when they were children. In the corner was her desk that consisted of her laptop and well organized papers that were filed away. Her room was simple, yet Rinoa and Selphie would often tell Quistis that her room looked like something out of a home decorator magazine.

Quistis walked towards her bed and laid down on it. Yes, being an instructor again was great. Exhausting, but great. Everything in her life was going well, nothing now could mess up her life.

**Ring**

Hopefully that wasn't destiny giving her a call to screw up her life.

"What now?"

She headed back to her living room and searched through her bag for her cell phone.

"Trepe speaking."

"Quistis, it's Squall , you got a minute?"

This was new, Squall rarely called her. The only time he would call her was to see if Rinoa was with her or needed a favor. Seeing as Rinoa wasn't with her, nor did she know of her whereabouts Squall had called for a favor.

"Sure what is it?"

"I just received a call from Deling City requesting Seed's help in exterminating monsters that are approaching the city. Apparently this is a once a year thing.

"Monster exterminations? Can't they send Galbadia's army to deal with this problem or Seeds from their garden?"

"Galbadia is hurting on money right now. Having to send out their own army would put the city more in debt than it already is. It would be cheaper for them to just send out a couple of Seed's that can use guardian forces than sending out the military using the money towards expensive artillery. Also, Galbadia garden is still undergoing damages so the next best thing was to request assistance from the closest garden. "

"And you want me to do it? Squall you know I can't, the exams are coming up and I need to make sure that my students are well prepared."

"Selphie and Irvine are out helping Trabia recover. Zell is going to be one of the Seed's on the field helping out during the Seed exams along with the other Seeds…"

He paused for a moment

"There's no one else right now, at least no one that can handle high leveled GF's." He sighed. "Come Quistis, think of this as a break, you're working too hard and everyone is worried about you."

"I'm not working that hard"

"You've never taken a day off since your license was re-instated Quistis." He spoke in a flat tone.

She lauged. It was still strange to know that Squall, the person who used to show no emotions, was actually concerned about one of his friends. Either he's matured greatly over the years or Rinoa is really starting to rub off on him.

"You say I'm working too hard but you want to put me out on a mission?"

"This mission will take only five minutes if you use a GF, you can use the rest of your time to relax."

"Five minutes if there's another Seed who's using another high level GF"

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yes about that, you'll be accompanied by another Seed in order to get the job done faster"

She didn't like where this was going, not one bit. He had already said that everyone else was busy and that most of the Seeds will be out helping with the exam. So who could possibly be her partner…

Crap…

"And may I ask who will be accompanying me along the mission?" She prayed it wasn't the person she was thinking of.

"I'm sorry Quistis there was no other person, it can't be changed. You'll be working with Seifer."

Destiny, fate, Hyne, whatever the hell her name was, she was a complete bitch. Why in Hyne's name would you pair up two people who are complete polar opposites with each other? Ok maybe not polar opposites but they don't get along dammit! She groaned.

"How did I know? Squall, you know he doesn't follow orders…"

"That may be true, but the bastard gets the job done. It'll only be for a few days Quis, and you won't have to spend the whole time with him."

She sighed. Squall was right though. Seifer never liked following basic procedures which made things a hell of lot harder than they should, but he always got them done, one way or another.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she let out a small sigh of defeat. Might as well make the best of things. "When do we leave and how long are we staying?"

She could almost hear the sigh of relief coming from the other line."You'll leave tomorrow morning in 1100 hours. You'll also be taking the Ragnarok, Seifer will be piloting"

This was new. "Since when does Seifer know how to pilot the Ragnarok?"

"Since he found out that only Selphie and Nida were the only ones who can fly it. He wasn't particularly thrilled that Selphie is the one who pilots the Ragnarok since Nida is in charge of flying garden."

"Ah, I see"

"You'll be out for three to four days, plenty of time to go to other places aside from Deling."

"Has he already been informed of the mission?"

"Yea he knows"

"Joy"

"Just try to make the best of it okay?"

"It won't be easy, but I'll try" She said with a weak smile

"Alright I'll see you tomorrow Quis"

She hung up the phone and tossed her phone on her coffee table.

"Of all people…couldn't be worse…" She sighed. "Why is Hyne always trying to test my patience?"

There was knock on the door. She got up and went to her door only to be met by the one and only Seifer.

Oh how Hyne was as much of a bitch as fate if they were different. Today will be the day she will forever know that Hyne was indeed a woman. A hateful scornful bitch of a woman.

_"What have I done to piss her off?"_ She thought bitterly before answering Seifer ."Can I help you with something Seifer?" She tried to sound as pleasant as she possibly could.

Unfortunately for her, Seifer could see right through her. "My dear instructor, you seem to be in a foul mood! I take it that you already know of the mission?" He smirked at her as he saw the bottom of her right eye twitch.

"Is it that obvious?" Sarcasm led by a sweet smile was how they always seemed to start off every conversation. She didn't hate him, but that didn't mean that she liked him either. Now that he wasn't her student anymore she didn't have to act professional around him.

And damn it felt good.

He put a hand to his chest and gave her a mock hurt look. "And here I thought I was your favorite student!"

She cringed "What the hell do you want Seifer?" Sometimes she wished she could take back the day that possessed her to petition him back into garden. Seriously, she most of been on some sort of drugs that day.

He laughed at her. "I just wanted to see how my favorite instructor is taking the news with working me. I only wish that I got here sooner to tell you myself"

"I'm taking it very well if you haven't noticed"

"Well since we're working together, I just want to make things clear between us. I call all the shots on this mission Trepe. You may have been a Seed longer than I have, but you know what? That doesn't mean shit to me. Whatever I say you do, savvy? You got a problem, then that's just too bad." He looked at her with his smirk never falling.

If there was anything a student should never do, was to undermine her success. She worked her ass off to become a Seed. She spilt blood and tears to earn her position which screamed respect. There was no way in hell that Quistis was going to take this kind of bullshit. Not from Squall, not Xu, not the Headmaster, and certainly not Seifer Almasy.

"Who the hell do you think you are Almasy?" She walked forward and placed her index finger on his chest looking at him dead in the eye.

"I'll say this once and only once; whatever I say, goes. I've been a Seed **much** longer than you have and I know how things work here. No one does my job better except me. You're playing by my rules and on my field Almasy, if you have a problem with it then that's just too fucking bad. You can either cry and bitch about it, or be a man, grow a pair, be ready by 1100 hours and let me handle everything, savvy?"

With that she retreated back to her dorm, leaving Seifer with a surprise look on his face.

What the hell just happened?

He stared at the door for a moment to recall what just happened. He was supposed to intimidate her so that he could have things done his way and leave her in disbelief. He didn't expect Quistis to have grown a backbone and actually be in his face demanding authority.

This was going to be the longest and most amusing mission in his entire life.

AN: Finished chapter one! I'm quite happy how this went. For those of you who are thinking that Squall is OOC, I'm going to have to disagree. I think that since Rinoa has been in his life that he changed a whole lot, that and two years can change a person. I don't see him as the quiet and anti-social Squall, but I don't see him cracking jokes and doing things Zell would do either. He's just someone who has learned to let his friends know that he's not a insensitive bastard and that he does care. Well that's all for now, till next time!


End file.
